The present invention relates to temporary signage and, more particularly, to an improved process and apparatus for manufacturing folded yard signs.
Temporary yard signs are useful for a wide variety of purposes, such as for political campaigning, indicating availability of property for sale or rent or open houses, announcements of yard or garage sales, giving directions to various events or places, and the like. In the past temporary signs were formed of a single panel displaying information on only one side and attached to a sign support, such as a long wooden stake, by staples, nails, or similar fasteners. More recently, two sided signs have been devised which are formed by two sheets stapled together or by a single folded-over sheet with the edges joined, as by staples, or sealed by a hot melt adhesive, creating an inverted pocket to receive a sign support, such as an inverted, rectangular, U-shaped wire bail, the legs of which are inserted into the ground.
Because such signs are only intended for temporary use, it is desirable for them to be inexpensive. However, it is also desirable that such signs, when in use outdoors, remain in good enough condition that they effectively convey a desired message. For this reason, typical materials for temporary signs for outdoor use have been paper card stock coated or impregnated with a waterproof material, such as a polymer like polyethylene. Additionally, the such signs are often printed using screen printing techniques and ultraviolet cured printed ink, resulting in dense ink patterns with high visibility and durability, although other inks and curing systems may be used.
In the past, the sided yard signs were often formed by scoring and folding a sheet with an image printed thereon. Then the edges of the folded sheet were sealed using an adhesive, such as a hot melt adhesive which was applied in a line along the side edges of the folded sheet. In a more recent manufacturing process, lines of the polyethylene coating along the side edges on the inside of the folded sheet were fused using ultrasonic energy, thereby avoiding use of a separate adhesive. However, the manner of practicing this process included manual folding of scored sheets and manual insertion of the folded sheets into an ultrasonic edge sealing machine. Manual folding and handling of the sign stock adds a labor cost to the sign product and limits the efficiency of production of such signs, thereby reducing production time and labor costs.
What is needed is a process for manufacturing folded temporary outdoor signs which maximizes mechanical handling and processing of the sign stock.